Hooking-on profiles for the attachment of wall covering fabrics

ABSTRACT

Improvements to fixed and mobile elements for the hooking-on of wall cloths, consisting in providing said elements with at least one zone covered with protrusions in order to promote the adherence between the cloth and aforesaid hooking-on elements.

[11] 3,822,734 July 9,1974

United States Patent Tombu L 0047 27 S M292 92fi 8 BBB%%BBB% L000MS666BBWB M lll lll 24 n H "mm H" 6 2 n" n n/ 2 "4 m2 n m wk ml 0 u u em U u 1 m m n n H mm nen m hn m M 29? m y 0 ed e e k p d k wmmmmmmmkmSGPBCSGAGEB 22461485723 00 3356677 9 99999999 wwywwwmmwww 1930395754935332 99 5707825643 20973608 ,J 2333 S r m C G u 0 a S w en R dm 0 e Cu L rm n mm mw mwm 0 T 1 6 MO 5 7 T a L N .0 a 8 0 mm 3 Gm 8 M 3 N S E OmCw. m N AR n B e e A m H D. HAF I F A 1 .11 4 6 2 .l. 5 7 2 2 r1 [f13,719,013 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 10, 1972 Belgium780464 Primary Examiner-Mervin Stein Assistant ExaminerPhilip C. Kannan[52] US. 160/383, 24/248 SL, 160/327, Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bacon &Thomas 9 160/394, 160/397. [51] Int. A47h 13/01 [58] Field of Search...160/327, 328, 329, 391-397, [57] ABSTRACT 160/404, 402, 383, 382, 380;52/222, 288; l6/l6 17; 24/243 243 M, 243 N, 248 SL, Improvements tofixed and mob le elements for tlse hooklng-on of wall cloths, cons1st1ng1n prov1d1ng sa1d 245 FF, 245 R elements w1th at least one zone coveredwlth protru- [561 212 UNITED STATES PATENTS I 584,148 6/1897Robinson.................. 24/248 SL ux 7 Claims, 10 Drawing FiguresBOOKING-ON PROFILES FOR THE ATTACHMENT OF WALL COVERING FABRICS Inprevious patents the applicant has disclosed a novel technique for theattachment of wall covering fabrics. This technique makes use ofhooking-on elements which consist of extruded strips of plasticmaterial, the longitudinal edges of which being both bent over to onesame side.

One of these elements is preferably attached beforehand along twoopposite edges of the wall to be covered; another element is attached totwo opposite edges of the fabric and the latter is positioned by hookingaforesaid mobile elements into aforesaid fixed elements, .thishooking-on operation being accompanied by a single or a multiplerotation upon themselves of aforesaid mobile sections, in accordancewith the required tightness to be given to the fabric.

This technique has proved to be extremely efficient, easy, fast andeconomical.

The fixed and mobile hookingon elements may present widely differingshapes and dimensions as disclosed in said previous patents, so thataforesaid technique can be duly adapted in accordance with the problemsraised by the particular coverings to be made, whether the latterconsist of one, two or even three layers.

It was discovered in practice, that for certain impregnated ornonimpregnated fabrics it was desirable to provide a supplementaryhooking-on action between the fabric and the adjacent elements of thefixed and/or mobile elements. In the case of certain applications it wasalso deemed preferable not to attach the fabric and the adjacent partsof the mobile sections by gluing, which on the other hand may beperfectly sufficient for many other sorts of cloth.

In order to comply with this supplementary requirement, the presentinvention consists in providing all, or certain parts of the sectionswhich are intended to come into contact with the fabric with protrusionswhich enter into the fabric in the course of the wall coveringoperations, thus leading systematically to an extremely effectivehooking-on, respectively connection, between fabric and elements.

In a particular form of embodiment, which forms an integral part of thepresent invention, it is advised for certain hooking-on elements, andmore particularly for the mobile elements, to orient said protrusions intwo opposite directions, so that these protrusions project on the onehand towards the front, and on the other hand towards the rear of thesame element.

In another particular embodiment of the present invention, such a mobileelement with bi-directional protrusions is associated with a fixedsection having monodirectional protrusions, i.e., having a zone ofprotrusions directed in one single sense.

It was found that by means of the cooperation of the various zones ofprotrusions thus directed, an extremely effective fixing of the clothwas obtained, without prejudice to the good preservation of same, andwithout prejudice either to the mobility of the system which permits theremoval and replacement of cloths at will.

The shape, dimensions, density and distribution of these protrusions mayof course vary widely in accordance with the sort of work to be carriedout.

Merely as an example, forms of embodiment are hereinafter described ingreater detail with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. I is a cross-section of two hooking-on elements to be used inmutual association;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the elements of FIG. 1 in two characteristicpositions of installation;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show two alternatives to FIG. 3;

FIGS. 6 to 9 show perspective views of fragments of hooking-on elements;and

FIG. 10 shows, to a greatly enlarged scale, that part of FIG. 9 which isindicated by F 10.

As illustrated as example in FIGS. 1 to 5, the fixed el- 'ement 1, i.e.,the hooking-on elements which have previously to be fixed upon the wallto becovered, are characterized'by the fact that they consist of strips,both longitudinal edges of which 2-3 being curled over so as to formhooking ledges. The rear face shall preferably be provided withanchoring elements 4.

According to the invention, the front face of aforesaid element 1 has azone which is provided with protrusions 5.

The mobile elements 6 are also constructed in the shape of strips ofwhich the two longitudinal edges 7-8 are curved in such a manner as tobe able to cooperate by hooking on with fixed elements 1. Aforesaidmobile elements 6 are essentially characterized by the fact that, in thepresent case, they are provided on both dorsal and frontal faces withhooking protrusions, respectively 9 and 10. I

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, aforesaid protrusions aredistributed in such a manner that the two zones which are provided withprotrusions 9 are spaced at a distance which is larger than the heightof the zone having protrusions 5 on the fixed element.

As schematically shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, one obtains by means of thislay-out that whilst a mobile element 6 is suspended to fixed element 1,a first cloth 11 is hooked unto protrusions 9 of that part of element 6which is temporarily the lower one, whereas a second cloth 12 is hookedunto the protrusions 9 of that part of element 6 which is temporarilythe upper one. When, by means of a rotary and translation motion ofaforesaid element 6, the latter is brought into engagement with fixedelement 1, as shown in FIG. 3, both cloths 1112 are very effectivelyhooked on between the various protrusions and the corresponding adjacentparts respectively of elements 1 and 6 which are thus mutuallyassociated.

In the example of FIGS. 1 to 3, the fixed element 1 consists of acontinuous flat strip.

FIG. 4 shows a slightly varying alternative in which the fixed element1, instead of being made out of a sim ple flat strip, is made out of ashaped strip of which the central portion 13, which corresponds to thezone covered by protrusions 5, is slightly pressed in so as to reduce bythat much the contact surface with the wall upon which aforesaid fixedelement 1 is attached.

The protrusions, which are the main subject of the present invention,can be given different shapes and dimensions.

In accordance with the schematic representation of FIG. 6, theprotrusions may be provided as continuous ridges 14 with more or lesstriangular cross section. This shape is of interest as it permits theindustrial fabrication of aforesaid hooking-on elements by extrusion,which is a fast and economical industrial process. On the other hand, asschematically shown in FIG. 7, protrusions 15 may be made by moulding,aforesaid protrusions having then for instance the shape of small conesor pyramids. As shown in FIG. 8, a similar result can be obtained byembossing the material, in which case the protrusions 16 will also be ofa conical or prismatic shape, but will be hollow. As schematically shownin FIGS. 9 and 10, the protrusions can also be brought about by punchingof the material.

In such a form of embodiment, as shown more particularly in FIG. 10,protrusions 17 consist mainly of the burrs left by the punchingoperation.

In a preferential form of embodiment, aforesaid punches will be oftriangular cross-section, whereby the burrs will be aligned in threeconverging directions, which can be particularly favorable in order toassure good adhesion.

In a most general possible manner, the present invention concerns thefabrication of hooking-on elements for wall cloths, characterized by oneor more zones of protrusions for the purpose of assuring or ofreinforcing the adhesion between cloths and hooking-on elements.

The present invention also concerns all construe-- tions, and moreparticularly wall coverings, which apply such fixed and mobile elementswith protrusions.

What I claim is:

1. A device for securing an edge of a flexible sheet,

for example a fabric, to a wall surface, comprising:

a first elongated member having parallel longitudinal edges defining,respectively, a first portion of a separable hinge and a first lockingportion, said first member having a rear face provided with means forsecuring the same to said wall surface and having a front face betweensaid hinge and locking portions provided with at least one zone ofprotrusions;

a second elongated member having parallel longitudinal edges defining,respectively, a second portion of said separable hinge, releasablyengageable with said first portion on said first member, and a secondlocking portion cooperable with said first locking portion;

said second member having at least one zone of protrusions on one facethereof, whereby said first and second hinge portions may be engaged, anedge portion of said flexible sheet may be positioned on the protrusionsof said second member and said second member may then be hingedlypivoted relative to said first member to a position to clamp said edgeof said sheet therebetween to be engaged and held by the protrusions ofsaid members;

said first and second locking portions cooperating to hold said membersin said last-named position.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the other face of said secondmember is provided with at least one zone of protrusions.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said zone of protrusions onsaid one face of said second member is opposite a zone of said firstmember not provided with protrusions when said members are in saidlastnamed position.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said zone of protrusions onsaid first member is between two zones of protrusions on said secondmember when said members are in said last-named position.

5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said first member is providedwith two zones of protrusions facing two zones of protrusions on saidsecond member when said members are in said last-named position.

6. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said protrusions compriseburrs extending from the edges of openings through said members.

7. A device as defined in claim I wherein said protrusions compriseburrs extending from the edges of triangular openings through saidmembers.

1. A device for securing an edge of a flexible sheet, for example afabric, to a wall surface, comprising: a first elongated member havingparallel longitudinal edges defining, respectively, a first portion of aseparable hinge and a first locking portion, said first member having arear face provided with means for securing the same to said wall surfaceand having a front face between said hinge and locking portions providedwith at least one zone of protrusions; a second elongated member havingparallel longitudinal edges defining, respectively, a second portion ofsaid separable hinge, releasably engageable with said first portion onsaid first member, and a second locking portion cooperable with saidfirst locking portion; said second member having at least one zone ofprotrusions on one face thereof, whereby said first and second hingeportions may be engaged, an edge portion of said flexible sheet may bepositioned on the protrusions of said second member and said secondmember may then be hingedly pivoted relative to said first member to aposition to clamp said edge of said sheet therebetween to be engaged andheld by the protrusions of said members; said first and second lockingportions cooperating to hold said members in said last-named position.2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the other face of said secondmember is provided with at least one zone of protrusions.
 3. A device asdefined in claim 1 wherein said zone of protrusions on said one face ofsaid second member is opposite a zone of said first member not providedwith protrusions when said members are in said last-named position.
 4. Adevice as defined in claim 1 wherein said zone of protrusions on saidfirst member is between two zones of protrusions on said second memberwhen said members are in said last-named position.
 5. A device asdefined in claim 1 wherein said first member is provided with two zonesof protrusions facing two zones of protrusions on said second memberwhen said members are in said last-named position.
 6. A device asdefined in claim 1 wherein said protrusions comprise burrs extendingfrom the edges of openings through said members.
 7. A device as definedin claim 1 wherein said protrusions comprise burrs extending from theedges of triangular openings through said members.